I wasn't lucky enough to live through the 1960s, 1970s but I did have a few eight track tapes of my own when I was little. Mostly country-western and I wore them out and then skipped over cassette tapes and went straight to disc.
For those that had a collection of eight track tapes, was there one you wore out the ribbon on to the point where it would never play again? What was it, do you still have it, just because?
For those who may have never seen an eight track tape this is what it looks like:
If you have any, get them transferred if you can. The magnetic tape doesn't last forever. If it hasn't happened already, they'll be just strips of magnetic tape in thick plastic cases.
When I was really little, I had this old little radio with an 8-track player. The very first music I ever owned was 4 - Kiss 8-tracks: Dynasty, Pete Criss, Kiss Alive II (this was on 2 8-tracks). I don't miss them. What an odd clunky format. I do however miss vinyl a great deal. Vinyl Rules!!!!
My parents had a stereo with an 8 Track player on it. My friends and I used to find old empty tapes (or use a crappy album like Barry Manilow) and put a bit of toilet paper into the little compartment on the top, and you could record over it. We'd make "comedy" tapes. Yeah, 15 year old girls think they are SO funny.
My husband had a box of 8 Tracks in our garage for a long time. He had a car that had an 8 track player in it. But, when he got rid of that car, years ago, he had nothing to play them on, but he kept them. I think they were finally thrown out.
They tend to disintegrate, like any magnetic tape. I also remember the fact that it was one continuous loop (great for making out, because it just plays again, you don't have to get up & change it) caused problems with jamming. Also, it limited the length of the tape, so cassettes, which could be made as long as 120 minutes replaced them. Cassettes were also less likely to jam.
When I was really little, I had this old little radio with an 8-track player. The very first music I ever owned was 4 - Kiss 8-tracks: Dynasty, Pete Criss, Kiss Alive II (this was on 2 8-tracks). I don't miss them. What an odd clunky format. I do
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When I was really little, I had this old little radio with an 8-track player. The very first music I ever owned was 4 - Kiss 8-tracks: Dynasty, Pete Criss, Kiss Alive II (this was on 2 8-tracks). I don't miss them. What an odd clunky format. I do however miss vinyl a great deal. Vinyl Rules!!!!
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For Christmas one year, I got my husband a turntable that he could use to transfer his vinyl to MP3/MP4 formats. The only bad thing is that because vinyl is the way it is, he had to go back in and slice the songs apart once they were transferred or else it would just be one continuous loop when you went to play the album from the computer or a disc.
If you have any, get them transferred if you can. The magnetic tape doesn't last forever. If it hasn't happened already, they'll be just strips of magnetic tape in thick plastic cases.
My parents had a stereo with an 8 Track player on it. My friends and I used to find old empty tapes (or use a crappy album like Barry Manilow) and put a bit of toilet paper into the little compartment on the top, and you could record over it.
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more
My parents had a stereo with an 8 Track player on it. My friends and I used to find old empty tapes (or use a crappy album like Barry Manilow) and put a bit of toilet paper into the little compartment on the top, and you could record over it. We'd make "comedy" tapes. Yeah, 15 year old girls think they are SO funny.
My husband had a box of 8 Tracks in our garage for a long time. He had a car that had an 8 track player in it. But, when he got rid of that car, years ago, he had nothing to play them on, but he kept them. I think they were finally thrown out.
They tend to disintegrate, like any magnetic tape. I also remember the fact that it was one continuous loop (great for making out, because it just plays again, you don't have to get up & change it) caused problems with jamming. Also, it limited the length of the tape, so cassettes, which could be made as long as 120 minutes replaced them. Cassettes were also less likely to jam.
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Oh I would have loved to hear your comedy tapes! I bet they were darling!
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04/11/2012
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